The Sweetest Apology
by Crystal Blue Montana
Summary: Post-Act 15. Though the drama with his impostor is over, Chiaki wonders if his friendship with Kotoha was irreparably damaged by the Ayakashi's shenanigans. Chiaki/Kotoha friendship; they don't know that they like each other like that... yet. *wink*


**The Sweetest Apology**

**For those of you who have expressed an interest in sequels or prequels to "Shinken Next," I am still trying to think of story possibilities, but my brain is feeling drained these days. My company has just moved to a new facility, and it's been a somewhat trying adjustment period for all of us. In spite of all the madness of the move, this one-shot came out of the blue, nudged me, and pestered me to give it a go, so here it is.**

**This story takes place right after **_**Shinkenger**_** Act 15; after the ruckus caused by Narisumashi's pretending to be Chiaki, and even though the apologies from Mako, Kotoha, and Ryunosuke to Chiaki were made and accepted pretty darn quick, I wonder if Chiaki might have been bothered a bit more (than what was shown) by what Kotoha had said to him when she had believed that Narisumashi really was him. Here is my extended, somewhat AU take on such a situation. **

**A _shinai_ is a bamboo training sword, typically used in kendo training.**

**Thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan during this extremely trying time; I wish them all the best and hope they can come out of this ordeal all right. _Ganbare Nihon! Issho ni norikoeyo!_**

**_Samurai Sentai Shinkenger_, all characters, and references are the property of Toei of Japan and TV Asahi. PlayStation Portable is the property of Sony Computer Entertainment. _Pac-Man Arrangement_ and _Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion_ are the property of Namco Bandai. No infringement is intended or implied, ever.**

Chiaki lay awake on his tatami, unable to sleep. Though Ryunosuke, Mako, and Kotoha had all apologized to him for their harsh treatment of him during the ordeal with Narisumashi, and he had accepted their apologies, he was still troubled by what they had said had happened to cause them to react the way they had. Ryunosuke and Mako had said especially harsh things to him, but, for some reason, Kotoha's lone remark, "You're the worst!" had stung him particularly hard. _Aw, Kotoha…_ thought Chiaki, _I know you said you were sorry, but I still feel like shit, even though it wasn't really me that did that to you and _Nee-san… He turned onto his side. _Why does it still hurt so bad? It shouldn't, especially because we cleared the air, but it does._

Chiaki thought about what the others had told him the impostor did; tossing a water balloon at Ryunosuke was fairly innocuous compared to smashing cake in Mako's and Kotoha's faces, yet Ryunosuke had still begged to be hit as punishment for his harsh words towards Chiaki, and, despite Takeru and Chiaki both considering the Narisumashi matter closed, continued to beg for his "punishment." Chiaki, in exasperation, finally whacked Ryunosuke over the head with his _shinai _just to shut him up.

Mako and Kotoha had both been more sedate; Mako had acted like none of the day's drama had even occurred, except for insisting that Chiaki have her portion of fruit after dinner that evening. Chiaki interpreted the gesture as Mako still feeling a little bad about what she had said to him and he tried to gently decline. Mako, however, was adamant, so they reached a compromise and split the fruit between them. Kotoha, on the other hand, seemed a bit more withdrawn than usual, and Chiaki couldn't help but wonder if she was still disturbed by the day's events. She hadn't said a word to him all evening; instead, she had gone behind the house after dinner to play her flute. Chiaki decided to pass the time waiting for her by playing _Pac-Man Arrangement_ on his PlayStation Portable, but he got so caught up in his game that by the time he realized that she had finished, she, and nearly everyone else, had already gone to bed.

_What can I do to make it up to you?_, thought Chiaki. He rolled onto his stomach. _They had to spend their own money to buy that cake. Perhaps if I… why not? What have I got to lose?_ With that, Chiaki immediately began to feel better, and he finally was able to fall asleep.

o-o-o-o-o

The next afternoon, after the day's training was complete, Chiaki finished getting dressed after his shower and looked around the hallway. He knocked on Kotoha's door. "Kotoha?" Getting no response, he went to Mako's room next, hoping that perhaps the two girls were inside together. To his dismay, he got no response from Mako's room, either. Seeing Ryunosuke headed to his room, he called, "Hey, Ryunosuke."

Ryunosuke turned, towel-drying his hair after his own shower. "Yes, Chiaki?"

"Have you seen _Nee-san_ or Kotoha?"

Ryunosuke thought for a minute. "I think Mako said that she was going out to get a manicure. I don't know if Kotoha went with her."

"Oh." Chiaki tried not to look disappointed. "Okay, thanks." Feeling somewhat deflated, he decided to salvage the rest of the afternoon with a trip to the Game Factory for a few rounds of _Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion_. As he approached the back porch, skate shoes in hand, he saw Kotoha sitting on the step, staring out at the clouds. His face brightened significantly. He took a deep breath before he gently called, "Hey, Kotoha."

Kotoha turned at the sound of Chiaki's voice. "Chiaki?" Chiaki stood with one hand stuffed into his pocket, the other holding his sneakers. His facial expression was unusually bashful, almost skittish, which Kotoha found somewhat amusing. She watched as he sat next to her and put on his shoes. "Did you want something?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," answered Chiaki. "I, um… want to come with me into town?"

"Right now? What for?"

Chiaki stood up. "It's a surprise. I promise, I'm not going to jerk you around or anything. It'll be fun. Please?"

Kotoha looked up at Chiaki. His face had a trace of the pleading look that he wore the day before, when he was trying to convince everyone that he hadn't been the one pulling the malicious pranks on them. Kotoha smiled and stood up. "Okay, let's go."

o-o-o-o-o

At a downtown food court, Chiaki motioned for Kotoha to sit at one of the empty tables. "I'll be back in a minute." He headed for a nearby café.

Kotoha sat down and looked around curiously. _I wonder what Chiaki is planning?__ He's acting kind of weird today. He's not being all mean like that Gedoushu was, but he seems kind of different today_. She was beginning to get somewhat anxious when he reappeared at the table, a loaded tray in his hands. Kotoha watched as he set the tray down on the table, and her eyes widened as she saw that the tray held a slice of green tea mousse cake, a slice of white cake with whipped cream and strawberries, a fluffy cream puff done up to look like a swan, a chocolate parfait, a dish of caramel pudding, and two tall glasses of milk tea with tapioca pearls at the bottom. "Chiaki, what is all this for?"

Chiaki chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I was hoping to get to take you and _Nee-san_ out for some cake to make up for what that Gedoushu ruined yesterday." He began to move the desserts from the tray to the table top, setting one of the glasses of milk tea in front of Kotoha. "Since _Nee-san_ wasn't around, you and I get to enjoy all of this by ourselves."

"You didn't have to go through all that trouble," said Kotoha. "We know now that it wasn't you who did all those mean things and we said we're sorry that we said such awful things to you."

"I know all of that." Chiaki sat down. "In a way, I'm kind of glad that it's just you and me here right now. I don't know why, but yesterday, when you said that I was the worst, it just really hurt, you know? It hurt worse than Ryunosuke saying that I wasn't his comrade anymore. I know, you didn't know it wasn't really me, and you already apologized, but for some reason, it still hurts like hell right now, and when you didn't speak to me all last night, I thought that maybe you were still mad at me. I guess that's why I really felt like I had to do all of this." He looked down at his hands.

"Chiaki…" Kotoha reached out and laid her hand on Chiaki's shoulder. When he looked up and met her gaze, she smiled warmly. "I wasn't mad at you last night. I was just missing _Onee-chan_ terribly, and I guess I was kind of distracted by that. I'm sorry if you thought I was still upset with you, because I wasn't. I'm also really sorry if you still feel hurt because of what I said, because of what that Gedoushu did. You know I don't feel that way about you. In fact, you're one of the sweetest people I've ever met."

"Yeah?" Chiaki's face looked much less forlorn. _Me, sweet? Really? She thinks I'm sweet?_

Kotoha nodded. "Everyone's been so nice to me since that very first day, but you've especially been nice to me. Maybe it feels that way because we're the youngest and tend to stick together because of that, but I really do think you're nice… and sweet."

Chiaki bit his lip nervously and blushed. "Thanks. That really means a lot to me. You know, I think you're sweet, too."

It was now Kotoha's turn to blush. _I've never had a boy tell me I was sweet._ "Thank you." She looked over the spread of sweet treats in front of them. "This all looks so yummy, but why did you get so many different cakes and things?"

Chiaki snickered, blushing further out of embarrassment. "They all looked so good, and I, um, I couldn't make up my mind, so I got them all. I hope you're in the mood for sweets." When Kotoha began to giggle, Chiaki looked at her, puzzled. "What's so funny?"

"I would have had a tough time deciding, too. It's cute that you decided to just get all of them. What should we start with?"

"Who cares?" answered Chiaki, grinning crookedly. "Just dig in." He took a spoonful of the parfait and popped it into his mouth. "Oh, man, this is really good!"

Kotoha cut a small bite of the white cake with her fork and ate it. "Oh, it's delicious!"

For the next hour, Chiaki and Kotoha enjoyed the assorted cakes and desserts in front of them, and any tension that Chiaki had perceived to exist between them had evaporated completely. Between bites of cake and sips of tea, they talked and laughed, as if they had no cares in the world, not even the Gedoushu. After nothing was left of the treats except stray crumbs, streaks of cream, and melting ice cubes, Chiaki stretched out contentedly. "I can't freakin' believe we ate all of that."

Kotoha nodded. "We probably destroyed our appetites for dinner tonight," she added. "_Jii_ is going to be so mad at us. Maybe even _Ryu-san_ and _Tono-sama_, too."

"I don't care. This was so worth it." Chiaki pushed his chair back from the table. "All the same, we should probably be heading back to the house. Let's get moving." He stood up.

Kotoha stood up, too, and put a hand on her stomach. "Oof. I feel like I gained at least five kilos just now," she joked.

"Let me see," said Chiaki. He crouched slightly, planting his hands on his thighs. "Get on."

"Eh?"

Chiaki nodded. "Come on, get on my back. I'll see if you really did gain five kilos," he said teasingly.

Kotoha pouted and folded her arms. "That's so mean."

"I'm sorry," said Chiaki. He remained hunched over. "Come on," he pleaded gently. "I promise I won't make snarky comments about your weight. I just want to give you a lift home. Aw, come on, please?" Kotoha looked warily at Chiaki before she circled her arms around him and carefully climbed onto his back. Chiaki took hold of Kotoha's thighs and slowly straightened his legs. "Nothing to it," he declared, glancing over his shoulder and winking. As he began the trek back to the Shiba house, he said, "Thank you."

Kotoha was puzzled. "For what?"

"For… for not hating me. For accepting my apology."

"Chiaki, you are so silly," giggled Kotoha. "You had nothing to apologize for, and I should be thanking _you_ for such a fun afternoon, so… thank you." _He's a lot sweeter than he thinks he is. No one else that I know would have ever gone through all this trouble. _She leaned her head on Chiaki's shoulder.

Chiaki's heart felt unusually light; believing the sensation related to the sugar rush he was positive he was on, he began to walk a bit more briskly, but not so much that he would make Kotoha's ride uncomfortable. _Boy, was I a dumbass to think that Kotoha was still pissed at me. Doesn't mean I regret any of this, though. Maybe I will after the sugar crash… but only the sugar part, because I think I could get used to carrying her around like this. _Chiaki rolled his eyes to glance back at Kotoha and smiled.

**I don't know why I seem to like putting Chiaki and Kotoha in a situation where they share sweets... maybe it's because I think they're one of the sweetest couples ever!**

**As always, reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading!**


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